Rod Laver is urging Nick Kyrgios to put his earliest-ever Australian Open exit behind him and focus on rebuilding his crumbling ranking.
Kyrgios is projected to slump to No.67 in the world following his first-round loss to power-serving Canadian Milos Raonic and was less than impressed when reminded that he'd never before departed Melbourne Park without posting at least one win.
"Thanks," the former Open quarter-finalist snapped during a typically lively post-match press conference.
Offering no excuses, Kyrgios had no answer to Raonic's "scary" serving and 30 aces, but acknowledged he needed to regain his seeding status to avoid such early-round tussles with former grand slam finalists.
"Obviously I was conscious that I could have drawn anyone here. I know that's the danger of being unseeded," he said.
"I'm not complaining, honestly. He was too good. It's a tennis match. Like, we're okay. I lost. It's fine."
The legendary Laver will be pleased the enigmatic star is quickly moving on.
"Nick got a tough draw. So you have to accept some of those things," Laver said at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
"You're down, but you're not down forever so you've got to bring yourself up."
Kyrgios is certainly down enough to expect not to be needed for Australia's Davis Cup qualifier next month against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Adelaide.
"Yeah, I don't think I'd be picked," he said when asked if he was available amid the swirling controversy around Australian captain Lleyton Hewitt.
"There's a lot of good players right now. Obviously de Minaur, Millman, they're all playing great. There's a lot of depth, which is pretty good for us."
Coyly saying there was "not really" with Hewitt, despite Bernard Tomic's explosive claim that he, Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis no longer wanted to play for the skipper, the one-time world No.13 was preferring to focus on the Open.
"I'm still in the tournament. I've got doubles tomorrow. All my focus goes in there," said Kyrgios, who is partnering mentor and mate Matt Reid.
"I'm going to come out there, just bluff my way through a doubles match, see how it goes.
"Obviously I'm playing with one of my best mates again, which is pretty special. I know this means a lot to him, being part of the Australian Open, playing doubles.
"That's all I'm focusing on. It's going to be a lot of fun."
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